Love Heals All Wounds
by monkeerangerfan
Summary: AU. Umino Umeko and Uzumaki Naruto move to a new town with their guardian and Umeko's cousin,Iruka. New school, new friends-the whole bit. New things maybe popping up like love, but what if the past just doesn't die for Umeko no matter how hard she tries
1. First Day, Typical Day

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. Viz Media and the manga author do. I only own the plot and the O.C.'s.

First day at a new school in a new town. I glanced down at my outfit that consisted of a black jean jacket, white t-shirt with a big horse on the bottom left corner, with a pair of dark blue jeans, and white sneakers. I pulled my tight pony tail tighter and fidgeted with the short, light brown bangs that covered my forehead. I was ready to go with all my notebooks and pencils in my backpack and my car keys in hand, but there is one person I am waiting on: Naruto. Without fail that boy is chronically late. He woke up 15 minutes before we had to leave. The blond boy was running around the new house getting dressed and eating breakfast at the same time. On top of that he was not being quiet about it and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Naruto, get your ass into the living room now or I'm leaving without you," I warned as I tapped my foot.

"Umeko, language!" my cousin and guardian roared from the kitchen. "Naruto, hurry up or you'll be late for school!"

"I'm coming. Believe it!" he yelled from his room.

I rolled my eyes again. "I'm going to the car now!" I yelled to the knuckle head. Then I spoke to my cousin, "Later, Iruka. Have a great day at the tutoring center!"

"Thanks! You have a great first day." He smiled as I walked out the door.

I stepped outside and shielded my eyes from the sun. I singled out the key on my keychain that went to my used black Ford Escort and unlocked it. I sat inside and waited for the blonde annoyance that is Naruto. But as usual I got impatient, started the car, and honked the horn.

"I'm coming!" he bellowed loud enough for everyone to hear. "Believe it!"

"Just get in the car!" I snarled as I raised my hands in frustration. "I don't want to be late and if I am, I swear to Kami that I will kill you!" 

He stepped outside wearing a orange and blue t-shirt and jeans that flared out a bit. "Just announce it to the whole world, Umeko," he complained as he sat down in the seat next to me.

"Put your seatbelt on," I growled as I put the car in reverse.

"C'mon. It's what maybe 10 minutes away." He crossed his arms.

"You know the rules, Naruto." I closed my eyes and counted to ten. This was not the best way to start the day, but this was the daily routine. I should be use to it by now.

"Fine," he pouted as he fastened the belt. "There are you happy!"

"Immensely," I told him as I pursed my lips together.

When we arrived to the school the first stop was to the office to pick up our new schedules.

"Hello, I'm Umino Umeko. I'm here to pick up my schedule and locker assignment along with Uzumaki Naruto." I glanced to the now bored fox-faced boy.

"Ah, yes. We were expecting you." The blonde middle aged woman beamed. She picked up some papers. She handed one to me and the other to Naruto. "Here you go. You're locker number and combination are written on it. Have a good day and if you have any problems, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you." I grinned back and I pulled my companion out the door with me.

"What do you have first?" I asked after we were out of the main office.

"I have Phys. Ed.. What about you?"

"Health."

He took a glimpse at my schedule. "We only have one class together and that's the last class of the day." He was quiet for a moment. "Oh, looks like we have the same lunch break and advisor. Wanna meet for lunch?"

"Sure," I said and stole a glance at my watch. "Well, we better go and find our first class. See you later."

"Yeah, later." He waved as he went in the opposite direction as me.

I strolled into my first class of the day only a few students were in there. One was a girl in lavender top with her hair up in four pony tails and bangs falling into her face. There was a boy in a white top and black mesh undershirt and he looked completely bored. The other was a boy with a bowl hair cut, bushy brows, and a tight green top. That was just plain messed up!

I continued walking to the desk. The teacher was going over some paper work, but from what I could tell, he too had the bowl hair cut and was also wearing a green shirt. I cleared my throat when I finally approached the desk.

"Hello! I'm Gai-sensei! You must be the youthful, new student in my class!" he exclaimed. "What is your name?"

"Umino Umeko," I replied as I handed him my schedule to make sure I was in the right place and put my finger into my ears to clear them out after the teacher's unnecessary yelling.

"Here you go!" He handed me back the paper. "Sit anywhere you like!"

I heard the others in the room groan and I shook my head to get rid of the loss of hearing that was coming to me. Did he have to yell? Kami. It was bad enough around Naruto, now a teacher. Ugh, this was going to be a long rest of the school year!

I sat in the first seat I reached and leaned against my arms while staring at the clock. I watched as it got closer and closer to the designated time for school to start. I don't really remember what happened after the bell ringing besides a bunch of kids getting in the room as fast as they could before the tardy bell sound except that I took notes on some aspect of puberty with everything being exclaimed and every other word an adverb or an adjective. The bell for first period to end didn't ring quick enough.

I rubbed my temples as I went to my next class. Luckily, it was something I would enjoy: Algebra II. It was taught by Sarutobi Asuma. I tiptoed into the classroom and a man, I presumed it was the teacher, was writing several equations on the board.

I didn't want to interrupt him, but I had to. "Sar-Sarutobi-san." Why did I sound nervous?

"Yes," he answered as he continued scribbling on the board.

He was making it harder than it needed to be. "I'm the new student."

"Oh, hold on one moment," he said as he put the expo marker down and turned around. He had a beard and wore black pants and white button-down shirt with a black tie. The math teacher reached out his hand for the paper and I gave it to him. "Umino Umeko, welcome to Algebra II and you are one of the few sophomores in this class. Had Algebra I in ninth grade, I presume?"

"Thanks and yes." I took my schedule back and sat down close to the front. I set my back pack on the desk and pulled out my math notebook. Putting the pack underneath my desk and opened my notebook to the first unmarked page. I let out a deep sigh.

I noticed as more students trickled in which included the bored kid from first period. He sat down next to me and stated, "You in here, too. It must be a drag being so ahead of everyone else."

"Not really," I replied. "What's a drag is that I had to move here."

"Whatever," came his uninterested reply.

_Shoot me, now_, I pleaded in my head. I began to write down the equations the instructor had on the board and started some of them. Before the tardy bell rang, a handsome guy wearing all black with dark purple makeup on. It may have been odd, but it was intriguing. I watched him as he walked to the back of the class. As a result, I felt my face turn red.

Halfway through the class, we were working on the problem that had to do with the Pythagorean Theorem. I raised my hand and answered it.

"Very good," he praised.

We worked on the rest of the problems. The last few seconds of class, he instructed, "Work on problems 10 through 25 and bring them back tomorrow."

"Umeko," he called as I stood up. "Go to the back of the room and grab a copy of the blue book on the shelf." He pointed behind.

"Thanks," I acknowledged as I walked to the back of the room. As I walked out of the room, I said, "See ya, tomorrow, Asuma-sensei."

"You, too." He took a couple strides to the white board and wiped off the markings.

Third period was so boring. I had keyboarding. It was taught by a guy with what looked like he had a burn scar on the left side of his face. His name was Raidou-san. All that happened was tedious typing.

Fourth, I had English. Entering the room as I had in my previous classes and walked up to the teachers desk. Before I said anything, a woman wearing a simple red dress. "Hello. You must be the new student," she greeted and smiled. "You may sit down where you want to."

"Thanks." I tottered to a desk and sat down next to the girl that was in first period.

The tardy bell rang. The teacher began to speak, "All right, guys. Today we will be pairing off for our project. Remember, you will be presenting these in three weeks," Kurenai-sensei announced. "You can begin to pair off right now."

"Hey, new girl." I felt someone poke my arm. I turned in the direction of the blonde girl.

"Yeah," I responded.

"Hey, I'm Temari. Would you be my partner?" she asked.

"Sure," I agreed. "By the way I'm Umeko."

"It's nice to meet you." She smiled.

"So, what do you want to do this project on?" I inquired.

"Strong women in literature," She offered. "Or the flawed and weak female characters in literature."

"I like it." I gave her two thumbs up. "How about we discuss the project during lunch?"

"OK." She nodded her head.

"Oh, wait I'm meeting Naruto for lunch unless you want to join us?" I proffered.

"Yeah, but who's Naruto. Is he your boyfriend?"

Opening my mouth in shock and felt the bile rise. "Um, no. We live together because we are family. You know he's like my brother."

"Oh, sorry."

"No problem. You didn't know." I waved my hand.

"Hey, join me to my locker before we go to lunch. So, I can tell my brother, Kankuro, that I won't be joining him for lunch today."

"Sure," I agreed.

"Class, I'm sure you have found a partner by now," she declared as she gazed across the classroom. "I hope you read what I assigned last night for you in _The Glass Menagerie. _Can anyone tell me what happened?"

Temari raised her hand. "Tom leaves his home for good, but regrets it later on, because of his sister."

"Very good, Temari," Kurenai-sensei applauded. "Can anybody tell me why?"

Nobody raised their hands, so I did. "It's because he left his sick sister with his crazy mother. His sister had Pleurosis. So he is very worried about what happened to his sister. But at the same time he doesn't really regret leaving home."

"Very good, Umeko. I take it at you last school already covered it." She smiled. "Anything else we haven't covered?"

I raised my hand again. "This play is semi-autobiographical. His sister instead of having pleurosis was actually schizophrenic and he also left home because he couldn't take living with his mother anymore."

"Wonderful, Umeko!" she exclaimed and bell rang. "All right class. Next time we will have a test on the entire play. Be prepared!"

"Follow me, Umeko," Temari urged as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of classroom just as I had clenched the pack. Her locker was very far from the classroom. As whirled the lock around, she asked, "Where's your locker?"

"Um, its 225," I answered.

"That's right across the hall." She pointed behind herself.

A guy walked up to us. It was that guy from second period with the purple makeup. I froze, looked down at the white floor, you know, the tile that's always on the floor, I got to know it really well- down to the very last scuff mark, both hands squeezed the one strap I had slung on my shoulder, and my face felt warm.

"Hey, Temari," he said as he finished approaching us.

"Hey Kankuro," she said as she put her books in her locker.

"Who's your friend?" he asked as my face got hotter.

"Oh, this is Umino Umeko. She just transferred," she introduced. "Umeko, this is my twin brother, Kankuro."

"He-hello," I stuttered. What the hell is going on? I never stutter.

"Hi," he stated, chuckling a bit. That just made the blushing worse.

"Kankuro, I won't be joining you for lunch. Umeko-chan and I have a project to work on and decided to sit together," she told him.

"Sure," he stated. "Nice to me you, Umeko."

"Nice to meet you, too," I concurred as Temari and I walked to my locker. I quickly opened it and stuffed every item in except my schedule in which I folded and put into my pocket.

As we walked to the lunch room, Temari and I never spoke, but she was sneering the entire time. After getting in the lunch line to get salad, I started looking for Naruto, but I didn't have to try very hard. I heard him above everyone else and he also had spotted me.

"Umeko-chan!" he yelled from where he was sitting and waved his arms around. I felt my face warm up. I swear I'm going to kill that boy!

"Hey Naruto!" I said as I sat down next to him. "This is Temari. I hope its ok that she joins us." I pointed at my new friend as she sat down.

"No problem." He shrugged and pointed at the guy across from him. "This is Inuzuka Kiba. We decided to have lunch together because of an English project."

"Same here. You must have Kurenai-Sensei," I asked.

They nodded and Naruto replied, "We have her for third period English."

"Cool," I said before I shoved a forkful of salad and pepperoni goodness into my mouth.

I watched as Naruto stuffed as many ramen noodles as he could into his mouth. That boy would live off of that if Iruka and I let him. At least at school he didn't start shouting and/or singing his declaration of love for what he considered heavenly food. But when he drank the broth and set the bowl down, some of the liquid started dripping down his face.

"Idiot, table manners!" I screamed.

"What?" He just gave me a blank star and threw one of the many napkins I had taken. Both of us knowing full well a situation like this would arise. Naruto's new friend chuckled.

"You're embarrassing yourself and me." I glared at him.

"Well, I'm not yelling for the whole world to hear. You're just like Iruka. Always yelling at me." He chugged his milk. I rolled my eyes. Idiot. He's lucky we were at school and it was our first day here, because I wanted to hit him.

"Naruto," Kiba interrupted. "She's not the only one who has a loud voice and getting everyone's attention." The brown, spiky haired boy winked at me.

Naruto gasped.

"Thanks," I told Kiba and finished eating my salad. I got a closer look at Naruto's friend. He almost had a canine like face with upside down red triangles painted on both cheeks, almost fang-like.

"No problem," he whispered into my ear. It had sent chills down my spine.

"Hey Umeko-chan, Kiba's coming to our place after school to work on that project," he proclaimed and scratched the back of his head.

"OK," I replied. "Do you need me to take you home, Naruto?"

"No," Kiba answered. "I drive to school. So, I'll be taking him."

"Are you going to tell, Iruka?" I asked.

"He'll find out when I get home, if he is still at work when we get to the house." Naruto leaned his head against his hands.

"OK, but don't blame me when Iruka decides to kill you."

"Umeko, I'm allowed to go to other people are allowed to the house and vice-versa when it has to do with school," he reminded me.

"I know." I sighed. Then I diverted my attention to Temari. "So, do you want to go to my house or yours?"

"How about mine today and then yours tomorrow?" she suggested as she ate her lunch.

"I like that." I nodded my head in agreement.

"Who do have for homeroom?" Temari asked.

"Um," I mumbled as I pulled out my schedule. "Shizune-sensei."

"She's cool," Temari voiced. "She teaches public speaking."

"That's awesome."

"What do you have after that?" She continued.

"P.E. with Anko-sensei," I answered.

She had look of pure terror on her face. "You are in for it rough, new girl. Anko-sensei is brutal."

I lifted both eyebrows. "That tough, huh." I shook it off.

"Don't take the class lightly. She's broken people for less," She advised as she nodded her head in my direction.

"Understood," I joked.

Temari opened her mouth to say something, but as soon as she did, the bell rang. "Well, meet you at my locker later?" she inquired as she took one last mouthful of food.

"Yeah." I nodded as I got up and threw my garbage away on my way out.

Homeroom was a breeze. The teacher was a nice, sweet woman with short black hair and wore a navy blue dress. But nothing really happened there.

I walked into the brightly lit room. Noticing a woman with short, spiky hair wearing a tan jacket, white shirt, and black shorts with a whistle tied around her neck and something round in her hand. That had to be her.

I made my stride longer to get to her quicker. "Hello, are you Anko-san?" I asked when I approached her.

"Yes," she answered, not even taking a glimpse at me. "Who's asking?"

"Umino Umeko. I'm the new student," I told her.

"Oh!" She turned toward me with a sickening smile plastered on her face. "Goody!"

Now, I will admit that scared me. I don't know why but it did.

"I'm guessing you don't have clothes to change into, do you?" she asked as she eyed my ensemble which consisted of pants and a t-shirt. I shook my head. "Well, what you have on is good for today. Join the others, now."

Boy, once class started, Temari was right. Anko-san was one tough teacher. I've never done so many nickels and dimes in one class period. But it was nice to have a challenge every once in awhile. I'm just glad it wasn't the old gym class standard of dodge ball. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it gets a bit tedious after playing the game year after year in gym class. I've also never prayed for a class to be over as soon as it started either.

Walking into my history class to see who I presumed to be the teacher with almost shoulder length hair, wearing a suit and tie, and a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. I stopped in front of the desk. He smiled. "This is Honors World History. You must be the new student."

"Yes." I smiled back as I handed him my schedule.

He chuckled as he looked it over. "You wouldn't happen to be related to the new tutor at the tutoring center?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin." I took my schedule back as he offered it back. "Why?"

"Because I work there as well," he said, simply. "And I was one of the people who interviewed him. He came well recommended."

I sighed as I smiled weakly.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"Now, I have to be good," I feigned being upset. "Or you'll tell him."

He laughed. "That is true. But I doubt I'll have as many problems out of you as the other new student by the name of Naruto." 

I snorted as I as down in chair at the front of the class and directed my thumb at myself. "You have no idea. But if you have a problem, I'll scare him for you."

The rest of the class was predictable with students trickling in and discussion going into full swing with some students answering or asking questions or not participating at all.

Class went predictability in Honors Biology with a teacher who had long, spiky hair that rivaled someone I use to know. So for most of the period, I thought of that old friend while I pretended to pay attention to the teacher.

The last class was music which I had with Naruto. The teacher was a creepy looking guy. Creepy was actually an understatement for Orochimaru-san. He actually reminded me of a snake in every way, but he voice was twice as slimy. During the class, I wasn't able to hear him lecture, because of Naruto asking stupid questions about the teacher.

"Uzumaki," The weird teacher reprimanded. "Is there something you need to say to the whole class?"

"No, Orochimaru-san," Naruto mumbled.

The teacher grinned as the bell rang.

"Good going, idiot," I yelled as I left the music room and went to meet Temari. Naruto kept up as much as he could.

After I reached my locker I took out what I needed and nearly knocked into the opened locker. "What the heck? Who ran into me?"

"Sorry, Umeko-chan," Naruto whined. I should have known who else would.

"Get what you need and go," I voiced, tiredly and turned to walk away but bumped into someone. Today just wasn't my day, but whoever I collided with smelled nice and felt guy like when I pushed myself away. Please don't let it be Temari's brother or some other guy I met today. I glanced upwards and saw the face of Kiba. I blushed and averted my gaze to the floor. "Sorry."

"Hey." Kiba smiled. "Umeko that's okay."

"Hey, Kiba. I've got to meet Temari. See you later." I waved as I marched away.

Temari was still putting books into her pack when I approached her and I tapped her on the shoulder. She twisted around. "Hey," I said.

"Hey." She tossed a notebook into her bag and zipped it up before she slung it onto her shoulder. "You ready?"

"Yeah, are you ready?" I asked jerking my head around searching for Kankuro. "Do you have to tell your brother?"

She shook her head. "He's already left. So we can go."

"Cool." I lead the way to my car.

As we walked into her gigantic house, we heard loud, rock music play. Temari told me that was a sign that Kankuro was home.

"Follow me," she instructed as she lead me to her room.

Before we reached her room I notice a boy with short, vibrant red hair lurking in the doorway of one of the many rooms we passed. I smiled and waved at him. He disappeared into the room.

"Who was that?" I inquired as I stepped into her large, immaculate room.

"That was my younger brother," She answered with hesitation. "Gaara." She sat down at her bed. "You can put your stuff down anywhere."

We started on our project by throwing of ideas within the two topics we had thought of earlier. Two hours later, I had to leave.

I stood up. "Temari, I gotta go." I tossed my pack on my shoulders. "Later."

"Let me show you out." She guided me back outside. "See you tomorrow."

"Hey, Iruka," I greeted as I walked in. "What's for dinner?"

"How was school?" Iruka asked. "Curried chicken and rice. Sound good to you?"

"Yeah," I replied as I walked towards my room with my stomach groaning. "It was great. I made a new friend."

Naruto's door opened and stepped out Kiba. "See you later, Naruto." He grinned when he saw me. "Hey, Umeko. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I agreed with a smile and marched into my room.

I throw my pack onto my bed and parked myself there too. I grasped a pictured I had on my nightstand from a few years ago of Naruto, Iruka, a silver-haired man, and me. I hadn't spoken to him in years. I wondered if should call him. Staring at the phone debating on whether or not I should. He may not want to speak to any of us at all. Who cares? He's the one who said I could call day or night. With a wave of confidence that surged through me, I clasped the phone in my hand and dialed his last known number. I tapped my foot on the floor as I heard the ringing until the high pitched whine that followed with a feminine, yet computerized voice telling me that the number had been disconnected.

"Oh, well, maybe it wasn't meant to be." As I laid down on my bed in the fetal position and waited for dinner for finish even though I should have been doing my algebra homework. But whatever. I just wasn't in the mood.

**A/N: **Anybody who can guess who the mystery, silver-haired guy is gets a digicookie!


	2. The Truth about the Uchiha Boys

I opened the door to my locker and shuffled through the piles of books to get what I needed immediately. My body may have been at school, but my mind was a million miles away, thinking about last night.

It was still affecting me today, but last night I had managed to get through dinner and do my homework even if I had had the urge to tell Iruka what was on my mind. I didn't. I sighed. Where could that man be? I really wished he was here. It would have made things a lot easier with everything that has gone on in the past year. With that …guy and Naruto getting kicked out of school, which was why we were here now.

Someone poked me in the back and I screamed. Turning around, I saw Temari scratching the back of her head and laughing. "Hey, girl. You wanna walk to class with me?"

"Sure," I agreed with not as much enthusiasm as I usually had.

"Is something wrong?" Temari asked as the strolled into the classroom.

"No," I answered. "I'm fine. I just had a long night."

"Oh," Temari stated. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I smiled.

She smiled back. "Hey, there's something I need to tell you. Avoid a boy named Sasuke unless you want his fan girls on you."

"I don't think that will be a problem. I usually don't like guys who have a bunch of hype behind them." And that was the truth.

"I'll show you who he is sometime soon." 

"Cool." I gazed down at my desk. I knew that man use to be a teacher. Maybe he taught in this area at some point. "Hey, Temari-chan."

"Yeah," she replied as the bell rang.

"Never mind," I said, defeated.

Sitting in the front as I had the previous day waiting for the tardy bell to ring. As before, I was next to the boy named Shikamaru who had spiky pony tail.

"Hey," he said when he noticed her presence, but went quiet just as quickly.

I noticed Temari's brother walking in, but instead of going to the back he sat in the free seat to the left of me. Oh, boy, I was not going to concentrate very well, because of this!

"Hey," he greeted, turning towards me. "Umeko, right. You're my sisters new friend."

"Yeah," I answered, staring straight ahead to prevent any and all embarrassment.

He chuckled. "So, did you finish your homework from this class?"

"Yeah, I did." I didn't even glance twice at him to avoid any flushing.

He chuckled again as the bell rang. Thank Kami for now!

But I could barely concentrate in class with him that close.

"So," Temari started. "You have second with my brother."

"Yeah, so." I raised my eyebrows causing a non-anger crease to form on my forehead.

"No particular reason." She smirked. "Just thought I'd bring it up.

"OK," I said as I shrugged my backpack off and hanged it onto the hook before I slammed it shut and slid my hand over the combination knob.

"I printed off some info after you left for our project. I'll show it to you at your house," she informed as we marched through the black double doors of the lunch room.

"OK." I bobbed my head up and down as we went through the main dish line.

After we had our lunch tray in our hands, we joined Naruto and Kiba for lunch.

"Hey." Kiba grinned when I sat down next to him.

"I was just telling Naruto that he should come over to my house today. Is that ok?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, it should be," I decided. "As long as its for school."

"Cool." he nodded his head as he shoved a fry into his mouth. "Watch out for Akamaru when we get home."

"Who's Akamaru?" I inquired.

"My dog. Well, puppy actually." He smiled again.

"Awe, that's so cute!" I gave him my famous tooth showing grin. "I'd like to see him."

"Maybe you should come by sometime with Naruto or I'll bring him over," he offered.

"That would be nice." I went back to lunch and continued to listen to Temari and Kiba talk.

"Today, we'll be doing Punnet Squares in pairs," Kotetsu-sensei explained. "And I will be choosing who you will be working with."

I noticed a pink haired girl and a blonde haired girl glare at each other then look away.

"There will be one boy and one girl paired together," he began. "Alphabetically."

First, their smirks went off their little faces. Then the blonde shifted her head in my direction and glowered.

I glared back. What was her problem?

The teacher named off who was paired with who. I didn't pay attention to anything until I heard the chair scratch the floor.

"I guess I'm working with you," came the bored voice of my partner for today's lab.

"And you are?" I rotated my head in his direction and was surprised at the face I saw. He looked almost like … him except for his hair was shorter and no marks on either side of his nose. I scooted the chair over a little bit for my life. I knew it wasn't him, but that didn't stop me from being scared.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he answered as he sat down.

Did he just say Uchiha? My heart began beating faster and I swallowed my spit while trying not to cry or scream. "U-Uchiha?"

"Yeah." he glared. "What's it to you?"

I averted my gazed away from him and unfortunately in the direction of that skanky blonde who scowled at me earlier was doing it again. Turning away and back to the boy next to me.

"No particular reason," I lied.

"Bull," he replied followed by a hn.

I grasped the papers that were being handed to us and passed the last one to Sasuke.

"I-I can't tell you." I focused my attention onto the directions of the worksheet, which was easy considering how we were paired up. "I don't know you well enough."

"Regardless of that, the moment you heard my name, you flinched." His lips twitched.

"If you must know, I knew a guy by the name of Uchiha Itachi," I confessed.

His eyes flared. "What? How did you know Itachi?"

Is my life turning into a soap opera? I won't tell him everything, just the most recent incident with him. "W-we, uh, kinda had a thing for a little while." My volume lowered the more I spoke.

"Wow, can we say jailbait?" I think he said something else after that, but I didn't quite catch it. "Why didn't you call someone that you were dating a criminal and I'm not just talking about your relationship?"

"I didn't know until after the last night I saw him that he was the guy that …" I couldn't finish what I was saying.

"What did he do? Not that I care."

"He was trying to finish the job he started when I was 4," I answered as I stared him straight in the eyes.

"He ruined your life like he ruined mine," he admitted.

"What did he do to you?" I filled information about me on the worksheet.

"He killed our parents." He did the same as me on the paper.

"Were you still there when it happened?" I asked him.

"Yeah, you?"

"Does it matter?" I stared at my worksheet. "It doesn't change what happened or how you feel."

"Hn."

We switched worksheets and filled out our information again and filled in the squares with the big T, little t or what ever letter stands for whatever trait.

"Are you done?' I asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll hand it in." I grabbed the paper and sauntered to the front of the class avoiding the stares and glares from Sasuke's fan girls. Like I really cared. There is nothing I want from him nor do I think he's interesting. But than after dating one homicidal maniac in that family, who wants to date another one.

"Umeko," he called. "I'm sorry what my brother did to you." He wasn't even looking at me. I guess that was better than nothing.

"You didn't do anything. So, why are you apologizing."

"True, but its always nice to hear."

"Yeah, true." I nodded my head.

We were in silence for the rest of class. I was trying to push the visual out of my head of Itachi and Sasuke.

For 45 minutes, I had avoided the fan girl patrol as I make my way to Temari's locker.

"Hey," I greeted as I took in a deep breath.

"Hey, girl," she greet back as she stuffed her pack with books. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine," I answered as I glanced over my shoulder.

"I heard you pissed off Ino during seventh period, because you got paired up with Sasuke," Kankuro announced.

"Um, which fan girl is Ino?"

"The blonde," he grunted.

"The skank with pony tail?" I let slip.

"Wow," Kankuro stated. "You haven't been here a week and she already hates Ino. I like this girl."

I smiled.

"You don't like him, do you?" Temari queried, arching her eyebrows as the three of us walked to the student parking lot.

"No," I stated with disdain. "Trust me, if liked him, it would be obvious. Besides I don't go for what most girls go for." I unlocked my door and chucked my bag into the back seat. After sitting down and shutting my door, I leaned over to unlock the passenger door. Temari yelled at her brother before she opened the door and sat down. I turned around to wave goodbye to Kankuro.

"This is my house," I told her as I opened the door. I threw my back pack onto the couch and my keys onto the coffee table. "Set your stuff anywhere you like." I stepped into the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink? We've go milk and juice."

"Maybe later," she responded.

"OK." I reached for a bottle of orange juice and began drinking it.

We began working on our project at the kitchen table. A few hours had passed until my cousin came home.

"Hey, Umeko!" Iruka said as he walked into the house.

"Hey, Iruka." I stood up. "Iruka, this is Temari. Temari, this is my cousin, Iruka."

Temari bowed her head.

"Temari, would you like to stay for dinner?" Iruka offered as he shuffled around the kitchen, pulling out the things he needed for dinner.

"Nah," she commented as she raised her watch to her eyes. "I've got to be going. Do you mind taking me to my house, Umeko-chan?"

"Sure, see you in 20 minutes, Iruka," I declared as I picked up my keys before I stepped out the door and took Temari home.

**Lunch time the next day**

The pink haired girl from bio sat in front of me. "So, what did you and Sasuke talk about in class?"

"It was about the lab we were working on." I gave Naruto a pleading look even though he was two steps away from drooling. Finally glacing my way, he knew what that expression meant and he became serious.

"Are you sure?" the pinkette continued.

"Trust me, I was there. I know what I was talking about," I retorted as popped a cheese covered broccoli into my mouth and chewed on it.

"Since your new what do you think of him?" she asked. "Isn't he cute?"

It felt as if everybody's eyes in the cafeteria were on me. "He was OK."

At that moment Kankuro decided to sit next to his sister. Not that I cared.

"OK, are you sure?" She gave this look as if I was blind.

"I'm sure," I guaranteed.

"That's good, because he's mine," the blonde claimed as she sat down and I rolled my eyes. "But may I ask, why don't you like him?"

"I may like tall, dark, and brooding, but not on the verge of homicidal," I roared.

The twins were confused, but smirking as well a few moments later and Naruto was grimacing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino asked as she leaned her arm against her hand.

"It means what it means but if you want to be that nosy, he reminds me of someone I use to date." I stood up and stomped to the girls restroom, leaving my lunch where it was.

"God, stupid, Ino-bitch!" I growled. "She thinks I was all over her Sasuke. If he's anything like his brother, he won't go after a girl that fawns all over him."

A few moments later, I heard the restroom door creak and felt a hand on shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I smoothed out my shirt. "I just have a feeling that won't be the last time I have to deal with Ino-bitch."

"Probably not, but unlike her you think for yourself and don't let her get to you. She's use to getting her way," she assured me.

"Yeah, while I'm used to getting whatever gets thrown my way," I added and smiled at her.

"Just forget her. Sooner or later she'll realize that life is not a bowl of cherries."

"That Sasuke will never give her a second glance." I giggled as we high-fived.

"So what really went between you two during bio?" she pressed.

"We have something in common and he knows that I am not that interested in him. Can we leave it at that," I pleaded as I looked her in the eyes. "Besides we better get back before Naruto gets worried."

"Yeah," she agreed as she dragged me out of the room.

We sat back down at the table. Naruto immediately went to my side. "Are you ok, Umeko-chan?"

"I'm fine, Naruto." I smiled, but he saw right through it.

"Are you sure? Because of you know." He twitched his head to the left quickly.

"I'm sure." I nodded my head. "I'll tell you later," I promised.

"OK, you better," he barked. His usual cheery features had darkened.


	3. Truths and Heartbreak

No sooner had I stepped into the door after returning from Temari's, Naruto began bugging me about earlier that day. "Umeko-chan, what happened during lunchtime?"

"Please drop it for now," I pleaded, almost to breaking down in tears.

"You said you would tell me," he reminded as he set his hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him. "If you don't, I'll tell Iruka about what today."

"You will regardless," I barked, but it would make me reconsider and he knew it.

"True, but if you don't do it now, you know you will have no choice but to talk about it then." He smirked, knowing his blackmailing was working.

I sighed deeply as I glanced away for a moment. "Fine, Naruto-kun, It was about the boy that half the female population at the school is in to. His name is Sasuke." I paused for moment, bringing my hand to my forehead. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, Uchiha as in Uchiha Itachi?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah. Itachi is his older brother. That's what Sasuke told me when we were partnered up with each other in Bio. I'll tell you another thing: he looks a lot like his brother."

"I saw that bastard. I have a couple classes with him. That gi-" he started to say. He cleared his throat. "Well, that explains why I don't like him."

"I'm sure." I smiled at him.

"Are you OK?" He asked. "What I mean is that with one of the Uchiha's here, the other one isn't that far behind?"

"I'm fine," I answered. "I don't think so. I mean from what Sasuke said and acted like he wanted nothing to do with his brother or maybe wants to get revenge. I don't know."

"Are you gong to tell Iruka?" Naruto posed.

"Tell Iruka what," our guardian inquired as he entered the house.

"That I would help you with dinner," I stated, quickly as I walked into our kitchen avoiding Naruto's glare.

"Thanks," Iruka stated, a bit confused at my sudden enthusiasm in helping with dinner. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," I said even though I was shaking on the inside.. "I just want to help. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I guess," the scar faced man replied.

Walking into the kitchen to acquire some refreshments for Temari and I, I bumped into her brother, Kankuro, who was drinking a glass of water. It seemed as if he was waiting for me. But that is just silly not to mention a little self-absorbed. Apart of me wished he was though. Just a little part of me. Then reality kicked in. Remember what happened last time. Just don't let get swept up in things again. But he is really good looking and he was really nice … to me anyways. Maybe he was just being nice to me because I'm a friend of his sister.

"Hey," Kankuro said. "Umeko, right?"

"Yeah," I answered, smiling.

"So, what are you looking for? Maybe I could help you find it," the young man offered.

"That would be nice. Thanks." I kept smiling. "I'm looking for the tea that your sister likes."

"It's right here." He reached in the cabinet above the stove. "The water is still warm because I just fixed myself one."

"Where's your tea cups?" I asked as I pulled out two bags from Temari's box of peach tea.

"Oh," he mumbled. "They're right here." He grabbed from the strainer two cups.

"Thanks," I told him with a smile and nervously pulled at my hair.

"Hey," he said, coolly as I poured the water into the cups. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

My heart jumped up into my throat. It was hard to speak, let alone think. "Are you Are you sure?"

"Did you believe me?" His face went from a smirk to a shocked expression. "I was just joking." He laughed almost evilly.

My heart sank. One of the few decent guys I've met in awhile and he turns out to be a creep. Great. Pushing back the tears stinging my eyes, I grasped the cups and ambled as fast as possible to take Temari her tea. As I did, that weird little red head, their brother, was staring at me. I got a better glimpse at him this time before he disappeared into his room. It had a tattoo on his forehead. Kanji for Love. I wondered when he did that. If I did that when I was his age or younger, Iruka would have killed me then brought me back to clean up the mess on top of that make sure that Naruto was around to learn a lesson as well. While during that same situation, Iruka's ex-boyfriend would have tried to calm him down by saying something like "She's just a kid, who's trying to figure herself out. So be easy on her."

Opening the door, I said, "I got the tea." Sitting down next to her, I handed her a cup. "Here's your tea."

"Oh," she said, surprised. "Thanks." She stopped for a moment to drink her tea and gazed at me for a moment. A look of concern swept over her face. "Is everything OK, Umeko-chan?"

"Yeah, I just got a call," I lied. "Iruka wants me home as soon as I can get there. I'll finish my cup of tea, go over some ideas, and then go home."

"OK," she understood. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I lied again.

"Who was out there when you got the tea?" she demanded.

"No one was out there when I went out there," I told her.

"Bull," she stated. "Kankuro was out there, wasn't he? Otherwise, you wouldn't have the look that somebody told you you're grandma died. Besides, I know you like him , because you look at him the way other girls look at Sasuke."

"That's not true," I mumbled as I felt my cheeks and ear warm up.

"Sure," Temari said, smirking.

Finishing up my tea, I said, "See you at school tomorrow."

"Later," Temari replied.

Rushing to my room, bumping into Naruto and ignoring Iruka's calls. I slammed my door. Crying as soon as my face hit the pillow, I hoped for alone time. But Naruto pushed through.

"What's going on? Iruka's worried and frankly so am I."

"Nothing," I told him.

He grimaced. "I don't believe that. I've only seen that look three times on your face my entire life. Would you like me name them?"

Telling him everything that happened that afternoon, Naruto's face contorted more and more to a side of him that I never wanted to see. Letting it all sink in for him and for me again, I knew it wasn't a good thing.

He went to punch the wall, but backed away. "I am going to kill him!"

Jumping from my bed, I stopped him from doing anything he would regret later. "No, Naruto. He's not worth it." I paused for a moment. "Don't do anything that you might regret later. Please." I gave him a pleading look.

He let out an angry sigh. "I won't do anything right now," he admitted. "But I am not going to break my promise to you. Although he's going to regret what he did. I'm not." He sneered.

"Naruto…" I growled, yet gave up trying to convince from harming Kankuro. "Are you going to tell Iruka?"

"I will, if you won't," he promised.

School went on as usual except for the fact that I avoided Kankuro like the plague when we were around each other. I never realized how much I liked him. But he, like the boy before him, made a hole bigger than I think I can repair.

The last bell of the day rang. Trudging to my locker to get my backpack. I was wading through my books well after everyone had left. I wasn't in a hurry since Temari and I decided to take the day off, because of our other course work. Finishing up with my locker and backpack, I spun around to go to my car. Naruto was probably waiting for me, if he wasn't with he new best friend, Kiba.

I wasn't the only one in the hallway. There were four teenage boys across the hall from me leaning on the orange lockers behind them. Noticing that I was done with my business, he started slinking towards me.

"Hey, New Girl," the boy greeted. They looked familiar. I think they hang out with Kankuro

"Where are you going?" another one said.

"I'm going to meet my brother and go home," I replied as I tried to force myself through the boys, but they stopped me.

"Do you have to go so soon?" the first one asked as he clutched my arm in his hand.

"Yeah," I answered. "And my brother is a big guy."

"From what I hear, he's big, but so scatterbrained that he wouldn't know what to do," he said, confidently.

"Why don't you bother someone else?" I posed as I tried to leave again. Wishing that Naruto was here. "Why do want anything to do with me?"

"Because we don't want to and besides Kankuro made it easy for us get to you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, didn't Kankuro ask you out and then played it off like he wasn't interested," he asked. I averted my gaze. "I'll take that as a yes and he told us that he would do that because he wasn't interested in you or at least that's what he told us."

Where is that purple makeup wearing asshole? He will not get away with hurting Umeko-chan! Waiting for Kankuro to walk by his locker, because he knew on certain days that Kankuro stayed after school. At least that's what Kiba told him, but Kiba had also warned him that he wouldn't want to do that. But Naruto never listens to anybody except Iruka and Umeko and he barely listens to them.

Finally he saw the cat like ears from the hat that Kankuro liked to wear. Naruto watched as Kankuro slowly made his way to his locker. Before he touched the locker, Naruto twirled him around and slammed him against his own.

"Now you are going to listen," Naruto began. "You hurt Umeko-chan and you are going to pay. But since I've promised her that I wasn't going to hurt you, I'm not. Although she's not here right now." He paused for a moment. "No, I won't break my promise to her, but you are going to wish I had."

Pulling Kankuro away from the locker and slammed him against the locker again. The sound of the teenage boy hitting the lockers echoed throughout halls. Both waited to see if any teachers heard that, but no adults came.

"Now, I'll tell you something that she probably hasn't told Temari. She doesn't like a lot of people knowing and she'll probably won't like me telling you," he explained as he took a breath before he finished. "When Umeko and I were about 4 or 5, she was staying with Iruka and I. She stayed with us for a few days or so. On the last day about six in the evening, we all got into Iruka's car to take Ume-chan home. When we got to her family home, they should have been expecting us, but Iruka still knocked on the door and they usually answered the door. This time they didn't. Iruka opened the door. No one was in the living room, but someone had been there. I remember some blood on the carpet and some of the furniture. Umeko at some point let go of my hand and ran towards the bedrooms. Iruka picked me up and ran after her. He found her standing in the doorway to her parents room. Just standing there like she was unsure of what to do. Iruka set me down and grabbed her before she would run off again." Naruto paused for a moment. "Iruka called the cops and she's been with us ever since. The case is open still."

"What?" Kankuro managed before Naruto slammed his fist next to Kankuro's face leaving a dent in the locker.

"I'm not done!" he screamed. "Recently, Umeko started to date a boy by the name of Uchiha Itachi. We all liked him, but he tried to rape her and finish the job he started when she was four. We didn't find that out until she went to the cops to report the sexual assault. Now I'll be damned if that happens again."

"I didn't know that," Kankuro said after a few minutes. "I think Temari sensed that or she told her something without telling her everything."

"Now tell me what happened yesterday," Naruto ordered.

"I only did that because I was asked to by some friends of my. They like her and they wanted to know if I was too and that if I was that I would stay out off the way, which they only reason why I did was because I don't want a girlfriend. That was until she came here and I saw how I hurt her yesterday. I been racking myself over with the guilt since then," the purple makeup wearer clarified. "I didn't know that she had been through that."

"These friends of yours," Naruto getting Kankuo's attention. "Do you trust them around girls?"

"Kind of, but not entirely," he answered. "Why do you Aw crap. We got to get to her fast."

"She's at her locker," Naruto told him as he let him out of his clutches. "Go, I'll be right behind you."

Not knowing what to do I throw my heavy backpack at the guy who did most of the talking and charged at the second in command in order to confuse them and get away. Not to defend myself. It didn't work as well as I thought, because one of them grabbed me and tried to pin me against the lockers. I waited for him to do whatever he had planned, but it never came.

"Get your hands off of her," came the booming male voice. "I change my mind."

"If you think you can touch Umeko-chan without going through me, you got another thing coming, believe it!" Naruto promised as I watched him help Kankuro teach those boys a lesson.

Watching as the boys ran away, Kankuro put his hand on my shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," I told him. "I just need to go home. Naruto will you drive." I threw him my keys. "I'll cover for you."

Shoving the keys into his pocket, he agreed, "All right Ume-chan. Grab your bag and we'll be on our way. Later and thanks."

I knew what had happened between those two and I was glad later on, even though I would never admit that to Naruto.


	4. Dreams of Death

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Viz Media and the Author, Kishimoto-san does.

Enjoy!

Naruto parked the car in front of the house. Just as he did, Iruka stepped out of their home.

"What are you doing?" Iruka asked irritably at the site of Naruto coming out of the driver's side.

"Can we wait until we are inside, Iruka?" pleaded Naruto. "She said she would cover for me and I've got to get her out of the car." The young man pointed at me. "She's a nervous wreck."

"OK," Iruka replied. "But this doesn't mean it's over." He took a second glance into the car. "Let me help."

"Sure," Naruto agreed. "The sooner she's in the house the better."

"I agree," Iruka nodded as they walked to the passenger door.

"Umeko," Iruka called as he opened the door, but I didn't respond to him. He called again and touched my shoulder.

I turned my head. "What? Oh, Iruka." I stretched out my arms toward him. Naruto and Iruka grabbed me before I fell out. Once I was out I pulled Iruka into a hug and wouldn't let go.

After a few minutes, Iruka said, "Let's get you inside and you can relax. Then we'll talk about what happened later, Ok?"

"Sure," I agreed. He could have told me I was ground and I would have agreed to it.

They led me to my bedroom and gently sat me on the edge of my bed.

"Come out when you feel better," Iruka urged, kindly. "Dinner will be done then." Taking his attention to Naruto. "Come with me. We need to talk."

"But Umeko said," Naruto whined, looking at her.

"I am going to talk to you first," he said, firmly. Nodding his head in my direction. "And when she's ready, her version of events."

"OK," Naruto reluctantly agreed, following his guardian out of the room and into the living room.

I curled into a ball as the guys were leaving. Left with my thought, I began replaying today's event over and over. Along with the incident with Itachi. Until it blended together, and I fell into a restless and tearful sleep.

"What were you thinking?!" Iruka yelled as the two entered the living room.

Naruto sat down and began playing with a coaster from the adjacent end table.

"Naruto, answer me," Iruka growled, flexing his right hand back and forth into a fist.

"Something happened to Ume-chan after school," Naruto finally choked out after a few seconds of silence. He paused again not sure how to phrase the next part. Also he figured using his pet name for her would soften the low and make his father figure see the seriousness of the situation. The blonde only referred to her rarely as Ume-chan to Iruka. "A couple of guys surprised her. Tried to jump her. Apparently to them it was their form of a joke and wanted to see if they could have her and anyway possible."

"What?" Iruka asked, barely comprehending what came out of his foster son's mouth. "Are you sure? And it happened at school? Did you see anything – I mean did anything happen to her?"

"Nothing physically," Naruto answered. "I had help from the scuzz ball's friend. We stopped them before anything else happened."

"Good," Iruka sat down. He was thinking about what Naruto had said. He understood everything better, but worried about Umeko. She didn't need something like this now. She was far from being better about the whole Itachi episode. Maybe he took her out of therapy too soon. Remembering Naruto telling him somebody helped him, he asked, "Who helped you?"

"Um," Naruto murmured, trying to remember the burgundy hair freaks name. He remembered the sister though. "Temari's brother. I don't remember his name."

"Oh-Ok," Iruka nodded. "Well, go to your room while I fix supper. You stay in there unless I call you, Ok? You are off the hook until I hear Umeko's version."

"Yeah," Naruto replied as he stood up and walked towards the hall that led to his bedroom.

Running down the corridor, the only thing on my mind was getting to my parents. Where they are supposed to be is a blindingly bright light. I have to get to them quickly or else…

After running for what seemed like hours, I make it through the light and into my parent's bedroom. Everything appeared to be in the same place as it did in my childhood at the Main Umino Family compound. The room... they died in. The bed was made as always in the cornflower blue sheets and chocolate-brown bed spread. End tables freshly dusted. The dressers with pictures of my baby brother and me. My mom's perfume. It smelled of lilacs and lavender. The company didn't make it anymore. I walked towards Mom's dresser to pick it up. I sprayed it on myself and the air. At first the familiar scent come to my nose, but followed by the pungent smell of death.

Immediately, I had a bad feeling. I wasn't safe anymore. Moving further into the room, towards the big walk-in closet that housed all of my father's business suits and my mother's large collection of shoes and evening wear. But as I entered the closet, I saw a man bent over two bodies. I only saw his back, but I knew by the long black hair in a low pony tail who this person was. I just stood there frozen, watching him finish off my parent. Even though I wasn't moving or saying a word, he knew I was there. No matter what he always did like he had eyes in the back of his head.

He stood up and turned towards me. As he did, a smirk slowly planted itself on his face. It made me sick to my stomach. He knew it or he was glad that he could finish the job he started.

"Umeko-chan," he called after he was completely upright. The knife in his hand was covered in blood. My parents' blood.

I didn't answer. I was too scared to.

It's been awhile, hasn't it?" he asked as he stepped closer.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My voice had frozen up on me. And I couldn't do much else. I was frozen to the spot as well.

He was right in front of my now. I forgot how fast he moved. The murderer lifter his free hand and brushed my face with it in a sick yet tender, loving way. It sent a chill up my spine. Before I had time to think, he pushed me against the wall, but it was no longer the wall in my parents' room. Now it was a wet stone wall in an alley way. The very same alley way he tried to kill me in but I was still able to see my parents in front of us. They were still on the carpeted floor in their room.

No, not them there, I thought as he moved his hands around my body, ripping my clothes off.

"Say goodbye, Ume-chan," he sing-songed. "It's time to join your parents. " The sick smirk still on his face. Lifting the knife, slowly, to start on me.

"No," I managed to say as I shook my head furiously, tears spilling down my face.

He stopped for a moment. "Why shouldn't I? I killed my family. Why should you and yours be any different?" He continued to lift his knife again, aiming for my stomach. I screamed in anticipation of the pain.

I sat right up in my bed. Covered in sweat, as always from this nightmare, I checked myself. My clothes and everything was intact. I was on my bed in my new room. Nowhere near the Umino Compound. Moving over to the edge of the bed, I took deep breaths to calm down. My heart was pounding loud enough that I couldn't hear what was going on in the rest of the house. But the aroma wafting through the air told me that someone was cooking dinner. It smelled like a chicken dish. I stood up, but I couldn't stand well yet and fell back on my bed from my limbs shaking. I had to lean on my desk to move.

Finally reaching my bathroom sink, I grabbed a paper cup from the dispenser and filled with water. I tried to lift it more than once, but lost water every time until I calmed down enough.

Finishing my water, I managed my way to the kitchen. It was easier than getting to the bathroom. Since Iruka was still cooking, he didn't even notice my presence until I pulled out the kitchen chair from under the table and it scrapped the linoleum floor.

He quickly turned. "Umeko, Are you all right?" He ran to the table. "You look like you saw a ghost. Are you OK?" He ran to the kitchen sink and came back with a glass.

"I'm fine," I answered, taking the glass from my guardian. "Except I had the dream again." I took a drink, falling down like a waterfall onto my shirt. My hands were shaking violently again.

"Oh, you poor thing," Iruka pulled me into a hug. At times like this, he was more of a woman than I was. But I didn't mind. "I'm sorry." He remembered that I was still wet and grabbed the nearest towel. He swiftly handed it to me.

"Thanks, Iruka." I managed a weak smile.

"Do you mind telling me what happened in the dream?" He inquired.

Telling my cousin word for word of what happened in my dream; he appeared to be as terrified as I felt. As soon as I had finished telling him, he pulled me into another hug. Making me wish that someone else was also here to console me. Not even Naruto would have been enough.

"If you feel like it, could you tell me why Naruto was driving when he's not allowed to? Iruka asked, changing the subject and becoming stern.

"I was attacked by this group of boys who were friends of Kankuro, Temari's brother," I began. Iruka nodded. "They had me pinned against the wall when Naruto and Kankuro came to my defense. I was so scared I couldn't defend myself. I feel so ashamed. All those self-defense classes for nothing. I barely fought off Itachi." The crying started again.

"It's OK," Iruka said, hugging me and petting my hair. "Try to calm down. No one is going to judge you in this house. And we love you." He pulled me closer, rocking me back and forth to help me.

I cried for so long that I didn't notice Iruka leaving to fix Naruto's favorite dish.

Kankuro paced in his room. Why did he say that to her? And why did he say he changed his mind? To his friends, it's going to sound like he actually liked her. He likes Umeko, at least in the capacity of being his sisters' new friend. She definitely wasn't annoying like Temari's other friends, which he thought was a plus. But why did it bother him that she was hurt. He wasn't a complete asshole, but he just didn't understand why he felt the way he did.

"Kankuro," his sister called, taking him away from his thoughts. His sister just barged in here without permission. He hated that! "I thought I told you to knock before you came in?!"

Slightly taken aback by her brother's irritability, she replied, "I did but you didn't respond. I have to come to the dining room with you, because Dad's eating with us tonight.

Dad's eating with us? He rarely does that. He must want to talk about something. "OK," he said, walking towards his sister. "Sorry about snapping at you. Today's been stressful."

"Really what happened?" she posed as she closed his door behind them.

"My friends jumped the new girl and I helped, I believe his name is Naruto, kick their ass," he revealed, but a pit in his stomach started forming because he didn't tell that it was partly his fault it happened. "The sad part was that she just stood there unable to fight for herself. But it's understandable with all that has happen to her."

"Yeah," Temari waggled her head. "I know."

"You know, what happened to her?" Kankuro stopped in his tracks.

"Of course, I do," she answered. "As soon as I heard her family name was Umino, I checked her out."

"Umino," Kankuro whispered to himself for a moment. "You mean the Water business tycoon family, Umino?"

"Yes, her great-uncle is now in charge until she reaches of age," Temari revealed, frowning. "Her guardian is the cousin she stayed with while her parents were murdered."

"I know that much," Kankuro snapped.

"What else do you know?" Temari asked.

"That the guy who did it is still out there and he tried to …," he hated the thought of it. "Rape her. Just to have a little fun before he killed her."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it except what they don't tell many people: it was a hit by the Akatsuki organization specifically Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke's older brother. Remember when we were younger our protection increased as well as father's?' she paused and her brother nodded. That's why. We may not get along with most other business groups or the law for some reason, but we do listen to them sometimes."

"I remember that," he concurred. "Isn't it true that Itachi murdered his entire family except Sasuke?"

"That's the story," she stated.

"And Sasuke wants to kill him?"

"That's also true," she nodded. "Now it makes sense when Umeko told me she not interested in homicidal maniacs or potential ones. Let alone date their brothers."

"I find it refreshing that there is at least one girl who doesn't want the younger Uchiha brother." Kankuro smiled.

Temari laughed. "Me, too! Let's get to dinner before they send someone after us."

"Yeah," Kankuro agreed, still smiling at his sister.

That would explain so much about her. After all that, she probably isn't interested in dating much less anything else.

Naruto approached the kitchen being called. On the table, he noticed hydrated noodles in broth with all his favorite things in them, which made him smile. On the table next to his ramen were miso, rice, and the chicken dish that Ume-chan loved so much. Beside those dishes were sesame chicken with a little broccoli and carrots. Along with General Tso's chicken, which Umeko like mixing together and dipping egg rolls into them.

"You made ramen!" Naruto screamed. "You rarely make ramen!"

"I made it because of what you did for Umeko today," Iruka replied, smiling at the boy as finished setting the dinner dishes and silverware onto the table. "You are off the hook for earlier, but don't do it without permission again." He pointed at the blond boy.

Iruka wasn't about to tell him about Umeko having another one of her nightmares that would just send him over the edge again. Just let the kids enjoy their dinner tonight.

The first thing Naruto grabbed was ramen. Iruka and Umeko laughed at the sight while grabbing what they liked. Umeko filled her plate with more than a decent amount of chicken and egg rolls. She didn't want to think about anything else but food. Iruka was happy for once they were getting along in their new place. It took less time than he imagined.


End file.
